Wheel toy



F. MARTINEZ July 30, 1963 WHEEL TOY Flled Aug. 16, 1961 46 7054 MART/N52 INVENTOR.

A TTO/Q/VE V United States Patent 3,099,105 WHEEL 'EQY Fidel Martinez, 137% Louvre Sh, Pacoima, Calif. Filed Aug. 16, 1961, Ser. No. 131,314 3 Claims. (Cl. 46-241) The present invention relates to wheel toys and, more particularly, to rolling hoops and novel means for controlling the rolling action.

in past, there have been two basic methods and means of driving and controlling the action of a rolling hoop, namely, propelling the hoop by means of the users hand or a flat object such as a stick, or by having a small ring fabricated on the end of a handle and encircling the hoop, in which case the hoop is merely a ring with no radial obstructions so that the hoop passes rapidly through the small ring during the rolling action.

In the first case, the hoop, once momentum has been obtained, can freely escape from the control of the child with the possible result of damage to property or injury to others. Moreover, if the child is playing on a public street or sidewalk and the hoop escapes into the roadway, the danger of injury or even death is always present if the child, in attempting to retrieve the hoop, darts into the path of oncoming cars.

In the second case, considerable dexterity is required in order to manipulate the hoop by means of the small ring and, therefore, it is not suitable for the novice. Also, the small ring exerts considerable drag upon the hoop, such drag often being at an angle with respect to the desired direction of travel so that the hoop is both slowed and undesirably diverted in its travel.

Also, the plain hoops of the past have offered very 1' tie aesthetic appeal as well as action appeal to the user.

Therefore, it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide means for driving a hoop which permits the hoop to rotate freely at controlled speeds while preventing the escape of the hoop from the user.

Another object of the present invention is to provide drive means for operating a hoop whereby various rolling effects can be obtained.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a wheel toy having a plurality of rotating rings wd/ or discs for obtaining variations in aesthetic appeal.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a wheel toy of the rolling hoop type with improved means for obtaining both visible and audible effects.

According to the present invention, hoop driving means is provided with magnet means for continuous contact with a ferrous portion of the hoop whereby escape of the hoop from the user is prevented, and with a rotatable drive member adapted for continuous rolling engagement with the rim of the hoop for maintaining relatively frictionless driving engagement with the hoop. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the rotatable driving member presents a non-linear surface for contact with the rim so that the longitudinal axis of the driving member may be angled with respect to the plane of the hoop without critically affecting the direction of travel of the hoop. In addition, the drive means is provided with a pair of parallel rings or discs of small size relative to the main hoop so that such rings or discs rotate counter to the direction of rotation of the hoop, thus providing greatly increased visual action. Further, the drive means includes a handle, which may be telescopic for variations in length, which is secured to a bracket having a plurality of securing locations so that the position of the handle with respect to the drive means may be varied in accordance with the selective characteristics of rolling action desired.

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The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

5 iGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view as seen along line 2-2 in FiGURE l;

FiGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the driving means shown in FIGURES l and 2;

"FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view, similar in aspect to FIGURE 2, of another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGURE 5 is a reduced size elevational view of the apparatus, illustrating one method of slowing the hoop in use.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and particularly to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, there is seen a rolling hoop ll) comprising a pair of identical discs 11 and 12 having concave inner surfaces 13 and 14, respectively, in spacial opposition to each other and having their respective peripheries l5 and 16 secured together by means of a metallic circular rim 17. The rim 17 has an inner annular groove 18 for receiving and retaining the disc edges 15 and id in engagement. The rim i7 is provided with an arcuate peripheral surface 19 for rolling action upon the ground or other surface and for engagement by the driving means to be described. in the embodiment illustrated, the rim 17 is composed of a ferrous material for magnetic cooperation with the driving means.

The driving means includes an axle 29 which, in the illustrated embodiment, constitutes a bolt having a head end 21, and a threaded end 22 with a longitudinal keyway slot 23 along the length of its shank. A driving member 24 is provided with a central longitudinal key 26 retained within the keyway slot 23 of the axle 20 so that the rotation of the driving member 24 is tnansmitted to the axle Ztl. A pair of auxdiscs 27 and 28 are disposed on the axle 2t at opposite ends thereof and are similarly keyed to the axle 20 for rotation therewith. A bracket member 29 has a pair of arms 38 and 31 provided with holes (not shown) through which the axle 2G is passed in' loosely rotatable relationship. A plurality of washers 32 are disposed on the axle 20 between various ones of the described elements to prevent frictional binding therebetween. A nut 33 is locked upon the threaded end 22 of the axle 20 to retain the assembly of the elements of the driving means. The bracket '29 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced threaded apertures 34, 3'5 and 36 for selectively receiving the threaded end 37 of a handle 38 which comprises at least two portions 39 and 40 joined together in telescoping relationship for selective length adjustment by the operator.

As best seen in FIGURE 3, the driving member comprises a central section 41 and outer sections 42 and 43', the outer sections 42 and 43 being identical to each other and presenting external surfaces in the form of truncated cones which blend smoothly into the external surface of the central section 41. The external surface of the central section 41 may be continuations of the conical surfaces of the outer sections 42 and 43 so that the overall configuration of the driving member 24 is that of two truncated cones with their apexes in aligned abutment, as illustrated, or the central sect-ion surface may be concave to mate with the convex peripheral surface 19 of the hoop trim 17.

in accordance with the present invention, the driving member 24 illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 may be constructed in either of three principal manners. Thus, the central section 41 may be composed of paramagnetic material and the outer sections 42 and 43 of diamagnetic material, or the converse (i.e., the central section 41 of diam-agnetic material and the outer sections 42 and 43 of paramagnetic material), or all three sections 41, 42 and '43 may be composed of paramagnetic material. In the first two cases, the strongest magnetic field external of the driving member 24 will exist between the junctions 44 and 45 of .the central section 41 with the outer sections 42 and 43; in the third case, such field will exist between the exposed ends 46 and 47 of the respective outer sections 42 and 43 and, of course, all three sections may be an integral magnetic body. In the first and second cases, junctions 44 and 45- will be of opposite polarity. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, either the first or second manner of magnetic hoop-retaining action is desired because of the relative dimensions of the driving member 24 to the hoop 17 in order to concentrate the magnetic field through such rim and, thereby, exert the greatest amount of attractive force thereto.

Referring to FIGURE 4, there is seen another embodiment of the present invention in which the hoop rim 17 is composed of a non-ferrous material such as, for example, a plastic or rubber composition and the main discs 11 and 12 are formed with respective protruding annular portions 48 and 49 which are spacially separated a distance sufiicient to cause them to be contacted by respective magnetic ring portions 50 land 51 of the auxiliary discs 27 and 28 in order to achieve the magnetic hoop-retaining action in accordance with the present invention. The driving member 24 presents a surface substantially mating to the peripheral surface 19 of the hoop rim 17 which may be circularly iarcua-tc, with the radius of curvature of the driving member 24 slightly greater than the radius of curvature of the rim surface 19' to permit ease of manipulation of the device.

In operation, the operator grips the handle and disposes the driving means with the driving member 24 in contact with the hoop rim 17 at a point above a horizontal line passing through the central axis (indicated at 52 of the hoop whereby a substantial forward moment is applied to the hoop when a force is applied in a forward direction (to the right in the drawings). Once the hoop has attained suflicient forward speed to be substantially stable, the driving means may be tilted at an angle with respect to the plane of the hoop so as to tilt the axle 29 of the driving means at an angle with respect to the central axis of the hoop but in substantially the same plane and, thereby, cause a difierent portion or portions of the driving member 24 to come into contact with the hoop 17 so that an angular force is applied to cause the hoop to smoothly change its direction of travel. It should be noted that, no matter what linear direction of travel or variations in such direction the hoop may be driven, the hoop is rotating in a clockwise direction and the auxiliary discs 27 land 28 are rotating in the opposite or counterclockwise direction due to the keying of the auxiliary discs to the driving member axle 2G and the fact that the driving member 24 rotates in the opposite direction from the hoop, thus causing a novel and stimulating effect. In order to accentuate the counter-rotational aspects of the main hoop 10 and the auxiliary discs 27 and 28, various designs and configurations may be stamped, painted or otherwise imprinted uponthe various rotating surfaces of the device. The action between the driving member and the hoop is one of continuous contact and counter-rotation. The magnetic field or fields adjacent the driving member 24 (the embodiment of FIGURES 1, 2 and 3) or the auxiliary disc rims 50 and 51 (FIGURE 4) retain the hoop in engagement with the driving member and prevent escape of the hoop from the operator. If the operator wishes to stop the hoop suddenly, he need merely to stop the forward movement of the driving means and, by the magnetic retaining action, the hoop will stop. If the operator wishes to slow the hoop, he may merely slow the forward motion of the driving means or, as indicated in FIGURE 5, continue to exert a forward force of lesser, equal or even greater magnitude by the driving means to the hoop but at a point on the hoop rim displaced below a horizontal line through the central axis 52 of the hoop so that a counter-rotational moment is exerted upon the hoop, bearing in mind that, once the hoop has-.attained sufficient speed, the hoop becomes a dynamic mass having its center of mass efiectively at its central axis 52. Because of the magnetic retention and continuously rolling contact features of the present device, this latter method of slowing a rolling hoop offers considerable additional novelty and attractiveness to the operator. In order to heighten the aesthetic appeal and interest of the device, one or more of the opposed hoop discs 11 and 12' are provided with a plurality of holes, such as 58, to cause the hoop to whistle during the rolling movement. By providing holes 58 of different sizes, configurations and radial displacement from the central axis 52 so as to cause them to have differing velocities with rotation of the hoop, a variety of whistling tones and volumes may be attained.

It may be noted that the edges 15 and 1a of the hoop discs 11 and 12 may be in abutment (FIGURE 2) or separated (FIGURE 4) or otherwise disposed in engagement with the hoop rim. Also, in FIGURE 2, only that portion of the hoop rim 17 which includes the peripheral surface 19 need be composed of a ferrous material.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A wheel toy comprising:

a hoop having a ferrous portion forming a continuous annular rim, and

hoop-driving means including a rotatable drive member adapted for contact with said ferrous rim,

said drive member comprising a plurality of coaxially aligned sections in adjoining abutment, at least one of said sections being a magnet and any section adjoining thereto exhibiting greater magnetic reluctance than said ferrous rim to the magnetic field of said magnet whereby such magnetic field is concentrated through said rim for maximizing the attractive force thereto.

2. A wheel toy in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sections constitute a central section and a pair of outer sections, said central section being a magnet.

3. A wheel toy in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sections constitute a central section and a pair of outer sections, said outer sections being magnets arranged in attractive polarity alignment.

References titted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A WHEEL TOY COMPRISING: A HOOP HAVING A FERROUS PORTION FORMING A CONTINUOUS ANNULAR RIM, AND HOOP-DRIVING MEANS INCLUDING A ROTATABLE DRIVE MEMBER ADAPTED FOR CONTACT WITH SAID FERROUS RIM, SAID DRIVE MEMBER COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF COAXIALLY ALIGNED SECTIONS IN ADJOINING ABUTMENT, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SECTIONS BEING A MAGNET AND ANY SECTION ADJOINING THERETO EXHIBITING GREATER MAGNETIC RELUCTANCE THAN SAID FERROUS RIM TO THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF SAID MAGNET WHEREBY SUCH MAGNETIC FIELD IS CONCENTRATED THROUGH SAID RIM FOR MAXIMIZING THE ATTRACTIVE FORCE THERETO. 